RI shuttler cruises to Hong Kong Open semis

JAKARTA (JP): With the threat of expulsion from the Indonesian Badminton Center hanging over his head, Irwansyah reached the semifinals of the US$30,000 Hong Kong Open on Thursday.

Unseeded Irwansyah took China's Cai Yun to school, scoring an easy 15-3, 15-7 victory in their quarterfinal match.

He will next face third seeded Tam Kai-chuen of Hong Kong, who was pushed to the limit in his quarterfinal match with Bjorn Joppein of Germany, emerging with a hard-fought 15-12, 15-10 victory.

Another semifinal match on Friday will feature Hariyanto Agus of Hong Kong and second seeded Chen Wei of China. Hariyanto defeated Lee Hyun-li of South Korea 15-4, 15-6, while Chen beat Ronald Susilo of Singapore 15-9, 15-12.

In the women's singles, Indonesia's Yuli Marfuah, seeded second in the competition, bowed out to unseeded Wei Yan 2-11, 9- 11. Wei will now meet Xie Xingfang, who upset fourth seeded Koon Wai-chee of Hong Kong 11-7, 11-9 in their match.

In another semifinal match, third seeded Ling Wan-ting of Hong Kong defeated Dong Fang of China 11-4, 11-9. She will now face China's Hu Ting, who beat Sathinee Chankrachangwong of Thailand 11-8, 11-6.

In the mixed doubles, Lee Dong-soo and Lee Hyo-jung of South Korea crushed the Chinese pairing of Deng Chuanhai and Huang Sui 15-8, 15-9.

The Koreans' next challenge will be third seeded Chan Chong Ming and Joanna Swee Ling Quay of Malaysia. The Malaysians emerged with a 15-13, 15-3 victory over Norio Imai and Yumi Akashi of Japan in the quarters.

The unseeded host partnership of Njoto Abertus Susanto and Chan Mei-mei scored a 15-10, 15-10 upset over the fourth seeded team of Lee Wei-jen and Tsai Hui-min of Chinese Taipei.

Xinhua reported the Hong Kong pair will now face Guo Siwei and Chen Lin of China, who sweated out a 15-11, 15-10 win over Khunakorn Sudhisodhi and Saralee Thunghongkam of Thailand.

Indonesia's men's doubles team Sigit Budiarto and Halim Heryanto survived their second round match, defeating the Chinese pairing of Cai Yun and Chan Wei 15-10, 15-5. They were scheduled to play the second seeded team of Chan Choong Ming and Jeremy Gan of Malaysia late on Thursday. (yan)